Awful toll of roads where drivers who break down have no escape
NARGIS BEGUM
THE grandmother, 62, died after her broken down car was hit on the M1 in South Yorkshire in 2018.
Mrs Begum was being driven by husband Mohammed Bashir, 67. They left their Nissan Qashqai to wait for help but another car hit the vehicle, sending it into her.
A pre-inquest review hearing in December was told that warning signs on the motorway had not been activated in time to stop drivers entering the lane where the couple had broken down.
A coroner is considering referring Highways England to the Crown Prosecution Service in what would be a landmark case.
DEV NARAN
THE eight-year-old was killed on the M6 in Birmingham in 2018 after his family’s car became stranded on hard shoulder being used as a live lane.
At the inquest into the youngster’s death, coroner Emma Brown expressed concerns about the ‘risk to life from the loss of the hard shoulder’.
After the inquest his mother Neeran, from Leicester, said that without changes, she believes smart motorways ‘still continue to pose threats to lives on a daily basis’.
SEVIM AND AYSE USTUN
SEVIM Ustun, 49, and mother-inlaw Ayse Ustun, 68, died after their family car broke down on the M2 in Essex in 2018 and was struck by a lorry.
Overhead gantry signs did not close the lane or warn of a broken down vehicle. A ten-year-old girl also suffered life-changing injuries. Police were urged to prosecute Highways England for corporate manslaughter.
DEREK JACOBS
THE retired engineer, 83, was killed after pulling up when his car had tyre problems on the M1 in north Derbyshire in 2019.
His Volkswagen Crafter van came to a halt in the first lane of the motorway, formerly the hard shoulder. It was hit by a Ford Ka, which was then struck by a coach.
His widow Sally said: ‘If there had been a hard shoulder, my husband would still be alive.’